What We Can Offer You

“Money is a conduit through which our Souls Flow into the World.” – George Kinder

Kirsch & Associates has been helping clients pursue their financial goals since 1990. Clients hire us to help them make smart financial decisions and move forward with confidence and a sense of purpose.

Our strengths are that we:

Are trained in the art & science of transition as well as traditional financial planning because both are equally important and equally complex

Use our trademarked process to help you integrate the personal experience with the technical sides of money management, insurance and investments for better potential outcomes

The journey from where you are today to getting to pursue what truly matters to you may look like a long one. You may be faced with uncertainty and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of decisions that need to be made, your lack of training or education in these areas, or your lack of confidence in making decisions alone.

Regardless, we believe that before you can make wise investment decisions, you have to start with an understanding of where you are today and where you hope to go. Major life changes, whether planned or unplanned, often may also require you to determine “who you are” today and “what” is important to you and “why”.

The CFP® Board of Standards of Professional Conduct defines traditional financial planning using these six steps:

Establish and define the client-planner relationship

Gather client data including goals

Analyze and evaluate the client's current financial status

Develop and present recommendations and/or alternatives

Implement the recommendations

Monitor the recommendations

Life-changing events, whether planned or unplanned, create complexity that calls for additional tools and process beyond traditional financial planning. When in the midst of a life-changing event, you have to address the change itself, before you can make decisions about the money.

For this reason, Kirsch & Associates has created a fee-based process that integrates traditional financial planning with transition planning and personal coaching to help you bridge the gap between the personal and technical sides of change and map a course to the new you. We call our unique approach The TruWealth® Process.

The TruWealth Process covers all the steps in a traditional financial plan and includes the ability to monitor your progress through our web-based Wealth Management Systems™. Beyond that, it includes additional tools to help you address the personal side of change and make decisions that require adaptive and critical thinking.

Our process starts with identifying all the things that are renting space in your brain and keeping you up at night. We then discuss what your ideal outcome looks like. Once we get all those thoughts down on paper and we agree on where you’re headed, we can help you to organize, prioritize and systematize.

Because we are trained in the art and science of transition using Sudden Money Institute’s curriculum, you can expect tools to help you:

Determine What has Changed & If you’re OK

Identify, Organize & Prioritize your Decisions

Articulate your Communications Preferences & Create Agreements

Assess your Talents & Strengths

Comprehend & Visualize Recommendations

Manage other’s Expectations

Track your Progress

Write & Reinvent your Story

The ultimate goal of The TruWealth® Process is to help our clients strive for peace in the present moment and confidence about the future by addressing both the personal and technical sides of money management, insurance and investments. By helping you address both sides of money, you can align your financial, tax, and legal pieces with your goals, values and ideal future self so that you can make smart financial decisions and move forward with confidence and a sense of purpose.

Due to the complexity of The TruWealth® Process, it is broken into phases. Based on past client experience, you can expect each phase to take three to six months, and expect it to take longer if you’re in an unplanned transition like widowhood or divorce.

All the Phases Include:

Web-based Reports Updated Daily Through Wealth Management Systems™

Software Training + Account Connections

Limited Online Document Storage

Alternative Scenarios & Testing

Visual & Written Illustrations to Accompany the Numbers that Articulate the “What, How & Why” of Your Alternative Choices & Decisions

Phase I or the Foundations Phase includes a comprehensive discovery process to deep-dive into your goals, dreams and desires for a better understanding of who you are and what’s important to you, where you are financially, how you best learn and communicate, and how you can work toward your short and long-term goals. The goal of Phase I is to define your “ideal self” and develop a cash flow plan that aligns with that ideal self and supports you both now and into the future. Phase I includes the following:

Phase II or the Investment & Tax-Planning Phase allows you to apply what you learned in Phase I to create investment portfolios that support optimal outcomes. You will determine your personal risk/reward comfort level based on the science of behavioral finance and learn how you can integrate this personal information with the external finances to develop an investment statement and strategy. You will learn techniques based on the latest academic research for structuring your portfolio to optimize returns while mitigating investment risks. You will also determine what you value most from your relationship with your financial professionals so that you can structure an ideal working relationship for monitoring your investments on an on-going basis. The goal of Phase II is to create an investment portfolio in alignment with your “ideal self” as well as give you confidence that your investment plan has the potential to support you both now and into the future. Phase II includes the following:

Financial DNA® & Investment Statement Creation

See Hourly Rate Chart

Income Distribution Tools & Strategies

Investment Screening & Historical Time Weighted Performance

Asset Allocation & Investment Recommendations

401(k) Review

Income Tax Projections & Mitigation

Consultation with Accountant

Graphic Summary of Income & Investment Plan

Advisor-Assisted Account Connections into Wealth Management Systems™

Phase III or the Overcoming Risk & Leaving a Legacy Phase includes a review of your current insurance policies and estate plan with the goal of making sure that they are in alignment with the goals, dreams and “ideal self” that you articulated in Phase I. You will develop an Income & Asset Protection Plan, a Family Giving Statement and a Legacy Plan to provide for the protection of what you’ve accumulated and the care and development of your loved ones. The goal of Phase III is to allow you to prepare for contingencies both now and in the future, even beyond your lifetime. Phase III includes:

Disability or Long-Term Care Needs Calculations & Planning

$3,000

Life Insurance Needs Calculations & Planning

Income & Asset Protection Plan

Estate, Texas Probate & Legacy Distribution Planning

Account Titling & Beneficiary Review

Legal Document Review

*We are not attorneys and any legal information is for educational purposes only. You should obtain competent legal counsel before implementing any legal strategies.

Estate Tax Projections

In Case of Emergency (ICE) Worksheet

Consultation with Legal Team

Graphic Summary of Estate Plan

Additional Services Available:

Change of Investment Titles/Beneficiaries (Assets Held at K&A)

+ $100/Account

Change of Investment Titles/Beneficiaries (Assets Held Away)

+ $200/Account

Administration of Estate Distribution to Heirs

Ask for Quote

Inforce Policy Review

+ $250

Family Meeting

+ $500

Family Giving & Sharing or Charitable Gift Planning

+ $1,000

Business Succession Planning

+ $2,500

We recognize that from time to time, you may have needs that do not fit into our normal bundle. We will be happy to discuss how we can help you and are available on an hourly rate for these services.

Once your plan is in place, we will lock it down into your personal online vault using Wealth Management Systems™. You can also safely and securely store copies of important documents, like tax returns and estate documents, in your personal vault.

For a year from the time of our engagement, your plan will be updated daily to reflect current values for all your connected holdings such as your 401k, bank accounts and investment accounts, so that you can continue to monitor your financial health on an ongoing basis.

The TruWealth® Process is a fee-based financial planning process and does not include any costs associated with implementing your investments or insurance needs. However, in addition to our financial and transitions planning qualifications, we are licensed and trained to help you implement your plan. You have access to a wide array of products and services* including:

Investments and personal portfolio management

Life, disability income, and long-term care insurance**

Trust services***

*We do not offer legal, tax or bill paying services but can refer you to professionals with whom we work closely. Joy D. Kirsch and Kirsch & Associates are not affiliates or subsidiaries of any accounting firms and those firms are not affiliates of LPL Financial. Kirsch & Associates, nor any of its employees or representatives, are authorized to give tax or legal advice. Individuals are encouraged to seek the guidance of their own personal legal or tax counsel.

**Kirsch & Associates does not offer medical insurance or property & casualty insurance. We are happy to offer you a list of professionals who will provide an independent review.

***LPL Financial Representatives offer access to Trust Services through The Private Trust Company N.A., an affiliate of LPL Financial.

You are under no obligation to use Joy D. Kirsch, CFP® or her associates to implement the investment or insurance recommendations from your financial plan. In fact, the offering of these products represents a potential conflict of interest. However, should you prefer to implement through us, we are happy to help you. Fees and/or commissions earned from the sale of investments, insurance, or other financial products are fully disclosed prior to any purchase.

Fiduciary vs. Suitability Standards

There is much discussion today surrounding the fiduciary standard vs. the suitability standard. Simply put, the fiduciary standard requires that the advisor put the clients’ best interest ahead of their own. The suitability standard, on the other hand, simply requires that the advisor recommend investments that fit the clients’ investing objectives, horizon and experience.

Certified Financial Planners are required by their code of ethics to adhere to the fiduciary standard and are allowed to sell products that pay either commissions or fees. Kirsch & Associates’ investment philosophy is to be “investment agnostic”. By that we mean that we’re more interested in meeting our clients’ needs than we are in the method of payment.

Please feel free to ask for clarification about our fee structure at any time during our relationship. It is our desire to be upfront and open about our compensation structure.

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The content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information. The information in this material is not intended as tax or legal advice. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. Some of this material was developed and produced by FMG Suite to provide information on a topic that may be of interest. FMG Suite is not affiliated with the named representative, broker-dealer, state- or SEC-registered investment advisory firm. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.

The LPL Financial registered representative associated with this site may only discuss and/or transact securities business with the residents of the following states: Arkansas (AR), California (CA), Colorado (CO), Florida (FL), Illinois (IL), New Mexico (NM), North Carolina (NC), Oklahoma (OK), South Carolina (SC), Texas (TX).

The content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information. The information in this material is not intended as tax or legal advice. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. Some of this material was developed and produced by FMG, LLC, to provide information on a topic that may be of interest. FMG, LLC, is not affiliated with the named representative, broker-dealer, state- or SEC-registered investment advisory firm. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.